Elisa and the Werewolf
by Isabella Raven
Summary: “They will find me, one way or another. But if I allow them to find me when I wish to be found, I meet them on ground of my choosing.” Where I will have the advantage, and they will have to play by my rules.
1. Bodies Among the Rubble

Disclaimer: Lucian is not mine. I might wish he were, but he's not. Pity, that. I'll return him in better condition than I borrowed him, I promise. Elisa, her bodyguards, her employer, and various lycans who show up are mine.

Rating: PG13 at the moment, for some violence and overall darkness of the story. I will announce it if I change the rating, and post warnings if things get interesting.

Categories: Drama, Angst

Summary: Elisa Maloryn is a young scientist with a passion for the supernatural stemming from years of dreams she could never quite understand. When she meets Lucian while investigating a vampire and lycan sighting, she recognizes the face that has haunted her since she was a teenager, and wants to find out who he is, and what he might know about her dreams. In a story of instinct, lust, and betrayal, the two come together, and find that some dreams are never meant to become reality.

Author's Note: I am revising the story, and redoing the plot line somewhat. I hope it makes things clearer, and that it makes for a better story. Please, use the review button, and let me know what you think of the updated story. I will try to have chapters out once a month, give or take a week.

* * *

Chapter 1 - Bodies Among the Rubble

Elisa Maloryn moved slowly, her eyes flickering over the tunnels as she moved to note splashes of silver and glowing blue ultra-violet fluid. There were marks where bodies appeared to have been dragged away, and blood everywhere. Another battlefield, then, with few bodies for her to document and plunder. She frowned, hearing the echo of her steps change, and slipped the flashlight into a belt loop, drawing the two guns she had at her hips. She paused with her back to the wall to let her eyes grow used to the dimmer light before moving forward again, her nerves stretched to catch any sign that the beings that had fought here hadn't left.

The room she emerged in was cavernous, with a filtered light diffusing around the room, though from where it came, she wasn't certain. There was a balcony and stairs along the one wall, and a door below them. A pool of water stood between columns, and she drew a breath at what was floating in the pool. A body, with half its head sliced cleanly from the rest, one vampire-blue eye staring at the ceiling. She stepped into the pool, slowly approaching it, slipping the one gun back into its holster. When she was certain it wasn't going to move, she returned the other gun to its place, and pulled the camera from its place on her harness.

_Photos, blood, tissue, bone, marrow, teeth. Fingerprints._ Her mind carefully went over the list of things she retrieved from every body. Her focus narrowed to the body in front of her, the camera's clicks echoing slightly in the massive room.

* * *

Lucian awoke to the sound of dripping water, and the smell of blood and death. He left his eyes closed for now, taking stock of his body. The silver nitrate no longer burned through his system, but he could feel the damage it had done. Bruises and bullet-holes made their own complaints, and one side was numb from having been pressed against the cold floor for an indeterminate amount of time. He heard no sounds of battle, or indeed, of any living being, only the steady drip of water.

_Alone and abandoned in the dark. Injured, but not dead._ His thoughts were flavored with a dark humor that suited him at the moment. He slowly pried his eyes open to look around him. Rubble and ruin, and Viktor's body floating in the pool outside, just within his line of sight. _Fate's ever-present sense of irony._ There hadn't been a hole there before, and he briefly wondered what had caused it as he gathered his strength to try and get to his feet.

Every sinew in his body keened, a wordless wail of agony as Lucian tried to shove himself off the cold concrete floor, falling back to awaken another chorus from his still healing body. His lips contorted in a snarl as again he levered himself up, this time drawing himself into a crouch, one hand reaching blindly out to steady him against the crumbling concrete wall.

He panted, his head hanging, with his chin resting against his chest, waiting for the wave of pain to pass before slowly standing, using the wall for support. Keeping one hand against the wall, he made his way towards the door, where the smells of blood and battle hit him in a solid wave of scent. Vampire blood, lycan blood, a blood scent unfamiliar to him that could only have belonged to one.

The quiet tread of someone walking through the rubble echoed in the room suddenly, and he froze. It could be lycan, searching for survivors, or it could be vampire, doing the same. There was a pause, then the tread resumed, a woman emerging from the tunnels into the cavern. She had a harness with various pockets, and her clothing was mottled in shades of gray. Fatigues, of some sort, meant to fade into the city background.

She carried a gun in a holster at her hip and another in hand, aimed at Viktor's body as she slowly approached it, her feet splashing as she stepped into the pool. After a long moment, she returned it to a holster out of Lucian's line of sight, and reached for something in one of the pockets. She pulled out a camera, and began to take pictures of the body and room around it. _What is she doing? Documenting his death?_

He turned back to the room, his eyes flicked around in search of a weapon, and finding only his own blade on the floor. Lucian picked it up, the metal scraping against the floor. A glance out the hole put in the wall showed him the woman hadn't looked up, though she was placing the camera back into its pocket, and pulling out a small container. _Strange. Does she have a problem hearing? Or am I just seeing more of an incredible bit of luck?_

Lucian was able to make his way down the stairs without the woman looking up, and he sniffed the air again. The distinct scent of a human came through and his hackles rose. No human should have been able to make their way down here, not if there were any stragglers from the battle. He shoved away from the wall, treading as quietly as he could as he crept around the pool, his eyes fixed on the woman, trying to keep out of her direct line of sight. _Not that she is paying any attention. As if she has someone to watch her back, and keep her safe while she works,_ he thought, realizing what her actions reminded him of.

* * *

Elisa drew off a syringe full of blood, surprised she was able to get so much from the body. It had probably been laying there for most of a day, unless the vampires had been down here just before dawn. _The sun was setting as I came down here. I doubt the vampires were here any more recently than last night, sometime in the middle of the night. And if they haven't left, they're doing a good job of keeping away from me. Which wouldn't make sense._

She spared a moment to search for the missing section of the head once she had the samples she needed, freezing when she noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eyes. The soft splash of feet hitting the water made her turn, the guns out of the holsters in the blink of an eye, and aimed at the man at the edge of the pool. He had gotten far too close to her for comfort, and she noticed a blade in his one hand. _Not friendly._

Her eyes flicked over him, settling on his face after assessing what she could of his state. There were several bullet holes, the clothing around them stained with silver, and she could smell the tang of blood from where she stood. A faint shadow of silver gave his face an eery look, and she suppressed a shudder, her black eyes locking with his hazel. _I've seen those eyes before. I've seen him before. But where?_

She replaced the one gun in its holster again, holding the aim of the other steady. "Who are you?" she asked, keeping her voice as even as her aim. He said nothing, taking a step closer, and she took up the slack on the trigger, not moving in the murky water. Her footing was unsteady at best, and she didn't want to find the footing behind her was worse. "Your name, sir."

"Lucian." His voice was rough and horse, as if it hadn't been used for a while, but it sounded familiar. _I don't know anyone named, Lucian. So why does his voice sound familiar? Why does he look familiar?_

He continued to watch her, and she wondered why he hadn't struck yet. He was close enough that killing her shouldn't have been a problem for him, if he was a lycan. And the blade was smeared with blood, making it clear it was perfectly capable of slicing through flesh.

* * *

Lucian remained still, watching the woman warily. She held the gun steady, the other one already returned to its holster. Her eyes had flickered over him when she'd turned, coming to rest holding his gaze, and he'd thought he'd seen a flicker of recognition before the ebony orbs were shuttered, showing nothing but himself mirrored in them. He could feel the weakness washing through his limbs, and cursed Kraven again for his current predicament.

"What is your name?" Her voice was a low alto, with a hint of clipped accent, steady as the gun aimed for his heart. He took a step closer, pulling on what strength he had, intent on getting rid of her, and she took up the slack on the trigger. Lucian froze once more, not wanting to risk getting shot again. He didn't know what ammunition she carried. _And I have no intention of seeing if the luck I've found will hold._

"Your name sir." There was an edge of honed wariness to her tone now, and her gaze flickered briefly to the blade in his one hand.

With a mental growl, Lucian replied with his name, trying to find the strength and speed he'd come to expect from his body. His voice sounded scratchy from disuse, and he found as he tried to move again that his body wasn't going to take this anymore. He blinked away the darkness that had covered his sight for a moment, staring up at the ceiling as water soaked into his clothing.

There was an oath from the woman, and the sound of splashing water. A worried face peered down at him, the woman kneeling next to him. Her foot was firmly on his blade, as he discovered when he tried to bring it up to strike at her.

"You're not going to use that, sir." She frowned, reaching back to pull out the flashlight he'd seen hanging from her belt earlier, and flashed it briefly into his eyes. He growled, baring his teeth at her, which got him a gun to the temple. "Don't tempt me." The flashlight had hit the water with a splash when she'd reached for the gun, its light shining eerily from beneath the surface.

He subsided, though his temper seethed beneath the surface, his irritation at his body and the woman both. She slid her arms under his shoulders, hauling him towards the edge of the pool where she could prop him against the crumbling cement. From the harness - or rather, jacket, as he noticed now - she produced rolls of gauze, bandaging the wounds she could find, before reaching into another pocket, and holding out a pair of capsules.

"Pain killers. Industrial strength." She watched him as he took them, gulping them down. "I thought lycans were allergic to silver."

"We are." He shrugged, his hazel eyes locking with her black. "Who are you? And what is a human doing down here?"

* * *

Elisa pulled out a pair of the industrial-strength pain-killers she carried out as she sat back on her heels, holding them out as she watched Lucian, telling him what they were when she saw the wary look in his eyes. She continued to watch him a moment before she spoke. "I thought lycans were allergic to silver."

His hazel eyes fixed on hers, a shadow of pain crossing his expression when he shrugged. "We are." He paused for a moment. "Who are you, and what is a human doing down here?"

"Doctor Maloryn." Elisa chose to ignore the second part of his question, standing and offering her hand. "I don't know how safe it'll stay down here. You have someplace else to stay?"

Lucian didn't reply, ignoring her offered hand to get up on his own. Elisa took a step back, watching him a moment, before reaching down, and finding the blade he'd been carrying beneath the water, and tossing it as far away from them as she could. There was a growl from the lycan, and her hand dropped to her gun again. He glared at her for a long moment, but didn't move towards her.

Waving a hand towards the tunnel she'd come from, she gave him a slight smile. "After you." _I'm not about to leave you at my back, mister. I don't trust you that much._ She watched Lucian as he walked slowly, frowning slightly. _I shouldn't trust him at all._

The lycan stumbled, and she darted forward, slipping her shoulder under his, instinctively stabilizing him. He gave her a startled look, and she froze, realizing what she'd done. _Oh, brilliant, Elisa. Put yourself where he can hurt you. Gabe is going to have a fit if he hears about this._

She pulled away when she was sure he could stand on his own, and waved for him to continue, the two winding their way up to the street. It was strangely silent, with fewer people than Elisa expected out and about. She frowned, hurrying Lucian along, heading for her car. She didn't like the silence, or the sensation that there was something out there that didn't like her. Slipping her bodyguards suddenly seemed even less of a good idea than it had when she'd encountered Lucian.

_Speaking of which..._ Elisa turned to ask him something, and gave a growl of her own when she discovered he was slumped on the sidewalk next to her car, from all apearences passed out. _Appearences can be deceiving, but I have a bad feeling he's not faking this._

With a sigh, she pulled out her keys, unlocking the back door, taking several minutes to get the unconscious lycan into the car. Sliding into the driver's seat, she took a winding route back to the apartment she shared with her bodyguards, wincing when she saw Alex leaning against the wall of the underground parking garage. _At least it isn't Gabe._


	2. Consequences of Impulse

Chapter 2 - Consequences of Impulse

Alexander Brown watched as the small car pulled into the parking garage, his arms crossed over his chest, and his expression blank. Elisa had her head down as she stepped out of the car, pausing as she closed the door, and fiddling with the keys.

"Gabe and Max are out looking for you, Elisa. Where have you been?" His voice was quiet, and he approached her where she stood.

"Out and about." She looked up at him, chewing on her lower lip. "There was a sighting in the subways last night."

Alex stiffened, his hand reaching automatically for the guns that always hung at his side. "And?"

"There was the body of a vampire elder among the rubble. Signs of a battle." She glanced into the back seat of her car, and Alex's gaze followed. "A lycan with severe silver poisoning."

Alex let out his breath slowly. "Elisa Maloryn. Please tell me you do not have a werewolf in the back seat of your car." His hand curled around the butt of one gun, ready to pull it free of its holster in an instant.

"I have samples in the passenger seat I need to get to the refrigerator so they won't degrade before I get them to the laboratory." Elisa side-stepped his query neatly, her fingers still fiddling with the keys.

"Elisa." Alex kept his attention on the lycan in the back seat, noting that he appeared to be unconscious. _Appearances can be deceiving._

"Alex, please. I don't think he's capable of hurting anyone, much less killing anyone at the moment." Elisa gave him a pleading look. "He's been shot more than once, with silver nitrate bullets, not solid silver ones. I don't even know how he survived having that much silver put into his system."

"And I would have felt a lot more comfortable if you'd left him where he was."

"At my back?" Elisa shook her head. "I'm not going to do something that stupid, Alex."

He raised an eyebrow. "And bringing a werewolf home is an intelligent move?"

She growled, a frown that was nearly a scowl on her face. "Better than leaving him where he could have killed me, or he could have been killed himself. I'm not going to leave someone to die when I can prevent it, Alex!"

"And he may well kill you, and the rest of us if he finds out what you do for a living! Which is a distinct possibility with how you bring your work home with you!" Alex glared at her. "You're inviting a security risk straight into our home, without thinking about the consequences."

"You're sounding like Gabe." Her jaw was clenched, and anger sparkled in her eyes.

"I should be. You're putting yourself at risk, Lis, and you worry me, worry all of us, when you go out on jaunts like this." His expression softened slightly. "Come on, Lis. Think about it. You vanish on us, without a word, and without a clue where to start looking for you. It's hell on our nerves."

"And having three guys haunting my every step is hell on my nerves!" Elisa snapped back.

"Lis." Alex gave her a warning look. "Let's get you up to the apartment, and wait for Gabe and Max to get back. No more adventures tonight, all right?"

She hesitated. "Alex, can you help me with Lucian? He's really too heavy to move on my own."

* * *

Elisa's jaw clenched as she listened to Alex, her one hand fisting around the keys. The metal bit into her palm as she tried to contain her temper. "You're beginning to sound like Gabe," she growled, her anger visible in her eyes.

"I should be," Alex retorted, his own expression annoyed. "You're putting yourself at risk, Elisa, and you worry me, all of us, when you go on jaunts like this." His eyes softened a little. "Come on, Lis. Think about it. You vanish on us, leaving us without a clue as to where to start looking for you. It's hell on our nerves."

She blew out an exasperated breath, growling back, "And having you three haunting my every step is hell on _my_ nerves!"

Alex gave her a look that warned her she was pushing his limits again. "Lis. Let's get you up to the apartment, wait for Gabe and Max to get back, ok? No more adventures tonight."

She bit at her lip a moment, hesitating. "Um, Alex, could you help me with Lucian? He's too heavy for me to really move on my own." She looked up at him. "And we shouldn't leave him out in the car. Who knows what could come through the parking garage, and recognize him for what he is?"

She could see the muscles of Alex's jaw clenching, and bit her lip again. _Please, Alex. I can't explain why this is important to me. You wouldn't understand, and I don't know if you'd even believe me. I'm not even sure I believe myself._

Alex's expression didn't change. "Elisa. We can't have a lycan in the apartment. Think about the security risk that involves, will you? It's too dangerous."

Elisa sighed with exasperation. "He's a lycan, Alex, he can probably figure out which apartment is ours even without having been taken into it. He's close enough to find it…"

"You should have thought of that before you decided to bring him here in the first place, Elisa!" Alex crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes flickering over her shoulder when a car pulled in. Elisa followed his gaze, and bit back a groan.

"When did she get back?" Gabe stepped out of the driver's side of the car, shooting a look at Elisa. He came over, his eyes on Alex while Max gave her car a quick look. The other bodyguard cleared his throat, nodding to the car when Gabe looked over at him.

"Who's the man in the back seat, Elisa?" Gabe's voice was quiet, and he looked a good deal calmer than he probably was.

_I wish he was as calm as he sounds. Life would be a good deal easier if he was._ She drew in a deep breath, rapidly explaining what had happened that evening, and reiterating her reasons for having brought Lucian back with her. _Or at least the ones that make sense. That I'm sure I've seen him before, but can't remember where, would not be a good thing to tell them. Or that his voice sounds familiar._

* * *

Gabe carefully kept a leash on his temper while he listened to Elisa explain that she wasn't going to leave the lycan to die. _Lycans are far more difficult to kill than you're thinking, Elisa. And although I'm sure that his survival of his tangle with someone with silver nitrate is fascinating to you, it doesn't hold any real interest to me. Except that it makes him more dangerous than the ordinary lycan._

He waited a moment after she finished before speaking. "And what did you plan on doing once you had gotten him back here?" He raised an eyebrow, certain he already knew her answer, if the look on Alex's face when he and Max had returned was any indication.

Elisa gave him an exasperated look. "Take him up to the apartment, and see if Max could patch him up." She looked over at the dark-haired medic pleadingly. "He's injured, and unconscious. He can't hurt us."

"At the moment." Gabe shook his head. "Elisa, this is the most reckless stunt you've pulled yet. What were you thinking?"

Her jaw was set, he noted, and he knew that meant she wasn't going to stop arguing until she won, or until the point was moot. "That someone needed assistance. That he's a lycan doesn't mean he isn't a person, Gabe."

"No. But it does mean he's a danger to you, Elisa. A very large danger to you, especially since he knows you have an interest in vampires, at the very least." _And likely suspects, if he doesn't know, that you have a similar interest in lycans._

Elisa crossed her arms. "What harm is it going to do to take him up to the apartment at this point, Gabe? He's already here, and besides, he's in danger here, as much as he could be a potential threat to my safety."

"Potential threat?" Gabe frowned. "Elisa, he _is_ a threat, if he stays here." He echoed her stance, his arms crossed. "Max and I can take him back out into the city, and leave him where he'll be relatively safe until morning. And where he won't prove a threat to your safety in the bargin."

"Gabe, there's nowhere a lycan is truly safe, not if what my research says is true. They are hunted, and they are the ones I find more bodies of than I find vampire bodies. More of them dead than the vampires. If you take Lucian out into the city, and abandon him there, he could well be dead before morning ever arrives." She scowled. "I won't let you do that. I won't have his death on my conscious."

"It wouldn't be on your conscious, Elisa." Gabe shook his head. "We are not taking him up to the apartment."

Elisa opened the passenger door to her car, and perched on the seat. "Then I'll spend the night out here."

"Elisa!"

She shook her head. "I don't think it's safe for him to be out there, and I'm not going to risk someone coming through here and recognizing him for what he is."

"Elisa, it's a private garage."

"And what are people going to think if they see some strange man in the back of my car? I don't want to deal with the police, either." She glared at him, and Gabe sighed.

"You know this will mean we have to move, Elisa." _Which was not something I wanted to do any time soon. It's difficult to find someplace we can set up the security measures in without attracting the wrong sort of attention._

"Yes." Elisa shrugged. "I don't mind having to move, if that's the price to pay for helping someone."

* * *

"This will mean we have to move, Elisa." Gabe held her gaze for a long moment, and Elisa shrugged slightly.

"Yes." _I don't care. I have an opportunity here that I might not have again. To find out about the culture of the beings I study. And I want to find out where I recognize him from._ "If moving is the price to pay for helping him, I don't mind."

Gabe nodded to Alex and Max, who pulled Lucian from the back of her car while the blond bodyguard escorted her up to the apartment. Elisa paused as they got into the main room, and Gabe's hand came down on her shoulder. "Get some sleep, Elisa."

She turned, frowning. "But…"

"No buts, Elisa. You've caused enough trouble tonight." He guided to the door of her room as if she couldn't find it on her own, and closed the door behind her.

_As if sending me to bed like an errant child will stop me from doing something dangerous!_ She seethed as she prepared for bed, curling up under the covers in a ball. _Bastard._


	3. Troubled Conversations

Chapter 3 – Troubled Conversations

"King." Gabe kept a wary eye on the couch where they'd placed the werewolf, one hand resting on the table near his gun.

"Go fish." Max's fingers tapped a staccato beat on the wooden surface, his gaze obstinately on his cards, but Gabe knew the other man was watching the werewolf out of the corner of his eye.

Gabe pulled a card from the pile, and sighed. His luck was not good this game. _My attention is also on the blasted werewolf Elisa brought home. This isn't what I think of when I think of her bringing her work home with her._

"Did Elisa give you a reason she brought a werewolf home, Alex?" Max still had yet to look up. "Other than the ones she put forward when we arrived?"

Alex shook his head. "No. Gabe, you have a three?"

Gabe tossed the card to Alex. "You have all the luck tonight, Alex." His eyes drifted back to the werewolf. "There has to be a reason she decided to help him. She knows lycans are perfectly capable of protecting themselves."

"That doesn't always mean she'll leave them be, Gabe." Max held up two fingers, raising an eyebrow at Alex.

"Go fish." Alex shrugged. "You know she'd pick up every stray cat or dog she finds, if we had the room to take them in."

"Heh. And that lycan is the epitome of stray dog, unconscious." Max looked over at the werewolf. "Perhaps that would be why she decided to bring him here."

Gabe watched the lycan for a long moment. "Maybe." Privately, he doubted Elisa had simply seen it as picking up a stray. _But she's not going to tell anyone but her journal._

"Queen, Alex?" Gabe tapped a card against the table.

"No, and go fish." Alex's lips twitched. "He doesn't actually strike me as the type to dress in drag."

Gabe rolled his eyes. "Really, Alex, not everyone shares your fascination with women's clothing."

Alex shrugged, smiling slightly. "What can I say, Gabe? I can't help being the fashion consultant for four younger sisters."

"At the tender age of eight?" Max chuckled. "No doubt your fashion sense is atrocious."

"Bah." Alex looked over at the lycan. "Now that, that is atrocious fashion sense. Silver just doesn't go with his coloring. Oh, Max, have an ace?"

"Go fishing, fashion queen." Max placed his cards face down on the table. "I ought to check on my erstwhile patient, and make sure the coagulants are working. We don't need him hemorrhaging all over the couch."

"Or worse, waking up. You sure about the dosage of that sedative, right, Max?" Alex asked, all traces of his earlier amusement gone."

Max snorted as he crouched near the sofa, knowing Gabe and Alex would watch his back. "I gave him enough to keep an elephant down for several hours. He could wake up any minute, in the morning, or not at all. I don't know."

Gabe grimaced. "Let's hope he doesn't wake up tonight, Max. I don't relish the idea of disposing of a dead body, or explaining it to the police."

"Neither do I, Gabe." Max checked the bandages over the lycan's wounds. "But I can't calculate the dosage for him. Not without a clue to his physiology. Hell, Gabe, he should be dead, according to all I know about lycans." Max scowled. "There were fragments of four separate bullets in his wounds. Enough silver nitrate to kill him twice over, at least." Satisfied that none of the wounds had started bleeding again, Max came back to the table, a troubled expression on his face. "He should be dead. That he's not is worrying."

"Lis would have to bring home the werewolf we don't even know if we can kill." Alex gave the lycan a dark look. "I have a very bad feeling about this. Like we're in for more trouble that usual."

* * *

Lucian woke slowly, his mind fogged by something other than pain. He pried his eyes open, blinking to adjust them to the sunlight pouring through a window. It was just rising, and he squinted, trying to see where he was.

"He's awake." A bass rumble came from somewhere near Lucian's head.

Sitting up carefully, Lucian turned his head to look at the source of the voice. A blond-haired man with a shuttered expression was sitting at a small table, a gun in his hand, aimed steadily at Lucian.

"Miscalculated the dose, than." A man with a baritone voice blocked the sun as he moved towards the table, staying out of Lucian's reach. "Not by much though."

"Who are you, and where am I?" Lucian was searching for a door as he spoke, hoping to make a rapid exit.

"Cool your jets, lycan." The blond spoke again, his voice holding a warning note. "You don't get to leave yet."

_Observant,_ Lucian noted. _Potentially dangerous._ The gun hadn't worried him, but the attentiveness to detail was a trait that few had. "Who are you?" he asked again, keeping his temper tightly leashed. _And why are you keeping me here?_

"You can call me Montrose." He didn't offer anything more, and Lucian looked to the man setting a case on the table.

"St. Claire." His reply was even shorter than the first. "Who are you?"

"Lucian." He paused. "What are you? Her brothers?"

Montrose raised an eyebrow, and Lucian caught a whiff of amusement. "No. Doctor Maloryn's bodyguards."

"Coffee, anyone?" A third voice joined the conversation, a tenor that came from behind Lucian. "Brew's up."

"Black as hell and sweeter than sin, Mister Brown." St. Claire opened the case he'd set down, revealing a doctor's kit. "I'll need to check the bandages, Lucian, since it appeared the silver nitrate in your system was interfering in your healing."

Lucian regarded Max warily, not certain of his intentions, especially since he'd woken up from a drug-induced sleep in the first place. "Why was I brought here? And where am I?"

"I can't say why you're here. I wasn't party to the decision." St. Claire looked over at Lucian, his expression closed. "You'd have to ask Doctor Maloryn."

A door opened somewhere behind Lucian, and he heard someone padding out into the room, their footsteps light. _The absent Doctor Maloryn?_

"Ooo! Blond and sweet for me, Alex?" Lucian recognized the voice, identifying the person as Doctor Maloryn. Her footsteps came around the couch, and she smiled slightly when she saw Lucian was awake. "Good morning, Lucian. I trust my bodyguards are not mistreating you?"

Lucian noted how she remained behind Montrose as she spoke, allowing the blond man to block Lucian's path with his body as well as the threat of the gun.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Maloryn chewed on her lower lip, looking down at the table next to her. "You passed out next to my car, and I wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving you alone in the street. It wasn't safe last night."

Lucian raised an eyebrow. _You had more reason than that, Doctor Maloryn. What aren't you telling me?_ He marked the frowns on the faces of Montrose and St. Claire. _Or your bodyguards? What do you want to hide?_

A tall man came into Lucian's line of sight bearing a pair of mugs. _The tenor, Alex Brown._

"Black and sweet for Doctor St. Claire, blond and sweet for Doctor Maloryn." He handed each of them their coffee, giving Doctor Maloryn a warning look.

_To prevent her from giving away any more of their first names?_

"Thank you, Mr. Brown." Maloryn took a sip, her eyes closing in pleasure.

_Doctor Maloryn. Doctor of what?_

"You said when we met you were a doctor, Miss Maloryn." Lucian saw her twitch when he spoke. "Doctor of what?"

* * *

Elisa closed her eyes as she sipped at her coffee, determinedly ignoring the silence from Max and Gabe. _I am not telling you why I thought it might be good to bring Lucian home. Other than the first instinct to protect him. Which I still have yet to understand, in the first place._

"You said you were a doctor, Maloryn." Lucian's tenor voice broke into Elisa's thoughts, and she jumped. "Doctor of what?"

Se opened her eyes to meet his gaze, licking her lips .Elisa still had the distinct impression that she knew him, but once more, the details of how eluded her, and frustration made a knot in her stomach. "Forensic anthropology and biology."

"Doctor Maloryn, what do you want for breakfast?" Alex drew her attention to the kitchen, and gave her a warning look.

Sighing, Elisa padded across the room to lean against the counter that separated it from the kitchen. "You know what I want for breakfast, Alex," she hissed, keeping her voice low. "You just would rather I were over here, away from the lycan."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "And this is a bad thing?"

Elisa looked over her shoulder at Lucian, chewing on her lower lip again. "No. But I am rather interested in what I might learn from him, and distracting me from asking him questions will not help me. So much I could find out. About lycan culture. Perhaps about why the lycans and vampire fight so much. Why all the bodies."

Alex looked over her shoulder, his eyes hooded. "You could, but what would the cost be?"

Lucian turned on the couch, his blue eyes catching Elisa's gaze. She shifted uncomfortably as she felt a frission of warmth go through her, trying to banish the sensation.

_I do not know what the price would be, Alex. And I am almost afraid to find out._

"Since you have me here, on your ground, Doctor Maloryn, what do you intend to do with me?" Lucian's expression was unreadable, but Elisa had the distinct impression he'd heard every word passed between her and Alex.

"I had not yet thought what I might do." Elisa paused, marshalling her thoughts. "However, there are some things which I am curious to learn."

"Such as topics you have no business knowing?" Lucian's voice held a dangerous note, one that promised danger if she pursued the knowledge she sought.

Elisa's eyes narrowed, and anger burned away any uncertainty or fear. "Perhaps, Lucian, if your activities did not impact human lives, and involve them. Then it might be no business of mine."

As it is, my patron and employer wants this information as much as I. For all that you make me uneasy, Lucian, you are not going to make me give up my desire to know all I can about you and your species, and the vampires. Why you are so familiar, and unfamiliar at the same time.

* * *

Lucian remained silent after Maloryn spoke, turning her words over in his mind. _She can't be related to Corvinus. We traced all the blood lines, and Maloryn appears in none of them. So who are you protecting, Doctor Maloryn? And why?_

Maloryn shuffled her feet, her scent and expression giving away her discomfort in the unfriendly silence. He observed her, purposely stretching out the silence, curious if she might have him leave if he made her uncomfortable enough.

Before she tries to question me more closely. But still, the question begs… What is she doing interested in my species? Or the vampires?

"Anyone other than Doctor Maloryn want an omelet?" Brown's glance at Lucian was hard; he had a suspicion what Lucian was doing in stretching out the silence.

"No, thank you, Mr. Brown." St. Claire drew Lucian's attention away from Maloryn, peeling away the bandages from the still raw wounds. He frowned slightly, probing them with one gloved finger. "From what I know of Doctor Maloryn's research, this is amazing recovery for tissues effected by silver nitrate."

"Perhaps an accelerated metabolism, Doctor St. Claire?" Maloryn came back over, a sardonic glitter in her eyes. She peered over Montrose's shoulder, her earlier discomfort apparently buried under her curiosity about him.

Lucian snarled silently at her, and Maloryn's hand dropped to her thigh, trying to grasp a gun she wasn't wearing. "It is not your concern."

_Fast to heal? How can they know it is fast to heal? Or even that it will heal at all?_

"The hell you say." St. Claire looked up, his eyes narrowed. "I don't care that you are a lycan, sir, or that you are evidently some threat to Doctor Maloryn, you are still my patient. Anything that can effect your health status is my concern."

"Leave him be, Doctor St. Claire." Maloryn held Lucian's gaze, a cold glitter of anger in her eyes. "If he wishes to remain helpless because his body can't metabolize the silver still lurking in his blood, let him."

St. Claire shot her an annoyed look as he moved back towards his medical kit. "Hippocratic Oath, Doctor Maloryn. I know you never had to swear it, but it is something I live by." He paused. "Besides, who was the first one to insist on helping him?"

* * *

Author's Note: For those still watching for my updates, I apologize for the length of time it takes. I am hoping to have a website done in time for the new year... (and yes, I know, I've said that before. Maybe this time I'll succeed?)... and on that website will be all my stories, and there I will most likely update first. Once I get the thing done.

Thank you all for sticking with this, though, and I will do my best to have an update - or the website - done before January, as my muses for this are back, for now.


	4. Questions Left Unanswered

Chapter 4 – Questions Left Unanswered

Elisa caught Lucian's gaze, anger surging through her. _I save your sorry hide, like as not, and this is the thanks I get? You bloody ingrate._

"Leave him be," she said to Max, her voice chilly. "If he wishes to remain helpless as he is because of his body's inability to metabolize the silver there, he may."

_For all that it pains me. I do not like the idea of him being helpless. I wish I knew why._

Max gave her an annoyed glare. "Hippocratic Oath, _Doctor_ Maloryn. I know you never swore it, but I live by it. And who of us was the first to decide he needed help?"

She shot him a dirty look as he pulled a small vial out of his medical kit. "No need to bring that up, St. Claire."

_I wish I could regret it. But as I cannot, I will make use of this. There is much I can learn, and will, from Lucian. At least then I will not have to explain why I do not care if he is a danger._

Lucian was watching Max warily as a syringe was prepared. "What is that?"

"A treatment for your acute silver poisoning." Max's gaze slid over to meet Elisa's, and he didn't elaborate.

_Leaving it up to me, if I chose to._

Lucian's gaze followed Max's, and he raised an eyebrow. He didn't say anything as Max slid the needle smoothly into a vein, the precious drug carefully injected into his blood.

_I can only hope that they metabolize any remains as well as any of the humans who have used this do. Or we may have given the lycans an immunity to the silver the vampires use to kill them. An advantage, now that they have the ultraviolet bullets as well._

"Why develop a drug like this?" Lucian's voice was quiet, something in his tone ringing warning bells in Elisa's mind. "You wouldn't have much use for it. Certainly not on humans."

Elisa licked her lips, fighting the urge to run and hide. _Never run when facing a predator, or you just look like prey. A maxim useful around lycans and vampires, if I can keep it in mind._

"It is not usually administered by itself, and it is not available to the public, even for clinical trials." She paused, knowing she had said almost more than she should have. "Anything more is classified."

There was a long silence before Lucian replied, "I see."

Letting out a breath she hadn't known she was holding, Elisa leaned back against the counter. _That could have been spectacularly bad if he had asked more questions._

* * *

Lucian contemplated Maloryn's response, marking her tension as she waited for his reaction. He could almost see the worry in her eyes that he would ask more questions. _Why would it be classified, Doctor Maloryn? And what is it that accompanies this drug's 'usual' use? Truth serum, perhaps? One designed to be used specifically on lycans?_

"I see," he said, keeping his questions to himself for now. He would ask her later, when he was able to control the situation.

He watched Maloryn sag with some small amount of amusement. _What are you hiding that makes you so glad I ask none of my questions about your little classified drug? Or is it who you are hiding?_

"Perhaps, since you are here, you could alleviate some curiosity of mine." Maloryn paused, watching him for any sign of response. Lucian did nothing to make her interrogation easier, and she continued, a note of uncertainty creeping into her voice. "Just some questions about how you survived being shot full of silver nitrate. And what happened…"

Lucian interrupted her with a snarled comment. "I am not going to satisfy some human's curiosity, Maloryn." He assessed his body rapidly, and he let out a savage smile. He doubted the humans could react fast enough to stop him now. _Your questions, as well as mine, will have to wait, Doctor Maloryn._

He grabbed the table that was at one end of the couch, throwing it at the window a split second before he followed, the glass shattering as Lucian went through it. He twisted as he fell to land on his feet, and darted into an alley across the street. Bullets cracked against the pavement behind him, and Lucian ducked out of sight of the window, waiting to find out what more Maloryn and her bodyguards would do.

* * *

Gabe scowled as Lucian vanished into an alley, turning away from the broken window to face Max. "You shouldn't have given him that dose."

"No. It shouldn't have worked that fast." Elisa was staring at the window with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Max, do you have samples of Lucian's blood or tissue?"

"The biohazard bag has the cleaning supplies. There was blood all over them, as well as my gloves." Max raised an eyebrow, doubt in his expression. "Do you think you'll be able to get live cells off of any of that?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. At least the bio-hazard bag is new, so there can't be serious contamination of the samples." Elisa grabbed the biohazard bag from its can, tucking it neatly into her insulated case after sealing it. "And even if I can't get live cells, I should be able to get genetic material, and I can have Jacob do his genetic magic on it all. I'll have cell lines by the end of the week, and I should be able to figure out why Lucian had such a fast reaction to the drug."

She pulled her samples from the day before out of her refrigerator, and added them to the case along with a cold pack. "I need to get these samples to the lab as well, so I can get them entered into the database." Elisa looked over her shoulder at Gabe. "As soon as possible, Gabe. And if I'm at the lab, you won't have to worry about the danger Lucian represents. You know how Mr. Corwin keeps that place a veritable fortress."

_And you have a cot in your office, where you can sleep until we find a new home. And this time, I'm insisting on a house. No more arguing about living closer to the city, or dealing with building managers._

"I'm driving. Your car can stay here." Gabe scooped up Elisa's pack, his eyes meeting hers. "You're staying at the lab for a few days, Lis."

Elisa pressed her lips together. "Fine. I'll pack an overnight bag, Gabe. You can bring me more clothes later." She turned away, vanishing into her room.

* * *

"I'm driving; your car's staying here, Lis." Gabe held Elisa's gaze as he picked up her bag. "You're staying a few days at the lab."

_Where Lucian cannot find me, and I can pester Jacob about doing his magic on what I can retrieve from the blood samples from Lucian, if I need to. Where I can figure out what the hell I was thinking last night, and all without me having to ask. There are times you are a god-send, Gabe._

Elisa pressed her lips together to keep from grinning, forcing her excitement down. Not too enthusiastic, Lis. And remember, you cannot take too much. Neighbors will wonder.

"I will pack my overnight bag. You will need to bring me more clothing later, though, Gabe." She turned away before she lost control of her expression, ducking into her room. _Two changes of clothing, my night clothes, my journal. That Halloween picture of me and mum. Do not want that to be left to the boys to pack._

Elisa tucked items into her duffel as she thought of them, tossing it over her shoulder as she trotted out into the main room again. "Ready."

* * *

Lucian watched the small car pull out of an underground garage, drawing back further into the shadows when Montrose's gaze fell on the alley briefly. Maloryn was in the back seat with St. Claire, but there was no sign of the third bodyguard. _Leaving one in the apartment while you go where, Doctor Maloryn?_

He turned away from the street with a grimace, padding further into the alley. The scents that hung in the crisp morning air were familiar, and Lucian studied the buildings as he walked through the warren of alleys. Pausing at the back door of an apartment building, he made a quick check for anyone watching before breaking the lock with a quick twist of his hand on the handle.

Down a flight of stairs, and through a metal door was the boiler room, where Lucian paused. The arms locker that was hidden near the back was open, magazines of ultra-violet bullets glowing on the shelves. His nostrils flared as he tested the air, his body tensed for a fight.

"Lucian?" A young man stepped around the boiler, staring at the other lycan. "We were told you had been killed."

Lucian stepped out of the shadows, recognizing the younger werewolf. "I am dead, Rex. But I have not yet ceased to exist."

_Nor can I afford to do so now. Not until I have found out what I need to know about Doctor Maloryn. Starting with who she works for, and how much she knows about lycans and vampires._

Rex gave Lucian a skeptical look, but didn't comment on what had been said, changing the subject instead. "Are you going to gather the pack again? Before they scatter to the winds?"

Lucian shrugged, checking the locker for magazines with regular rounds after he picked up the gun he preferred. "Not yet. It will be safer for them to hide for now. And I have business to attend to."

"Business?" Rex gave him a puzzled look. "What now? And how many do you need to help?"

Loading the gun, Lucian regarded Rex for a long moment before replying. "Only a few. I don't want to draw attention." _Especially not if Doctor Maloryn is working for the vampires. However unlikely that may be._

"My sister and my daughter are still in the city, waiting for me. Reeve left with her brother's woman, and their small ones. They weren't going to wait, and risk vampires finding the small ones." Rex picked up one of the guns laid out on the table, and tucked it into the back of his pants. "Most of the men who were at the den are dead, and no one's seen Singe or those with him."

Lucian nodded. He hadn't expected anything less after the vampires raided the den. "Where does your wife expect to meet you?"

"The old fortress. She's expecting me to arrive with Kit and Nikki tomorrow night at the latest." Rex began putting weapons they couldn't conceal back into the locker. "I can send Nikki out and have her tell her mother Kit and I will be delayed."

"Have her stay out of the city once she does. I will gather the pack after I finish with my business here." Lucian headed back for the outside. "Which safe house are your sister and daughter using while you get weapons?"

"The one near the city center. Vampires searching the catacombs won't expect lycans to remain that close, so the patrols are thinner and easier to avoid."

"Good." Lucian took the lead, knowing which safe house Rex had hidden his family in. _And if the patrols are thinner, not only are they easier to avoid, but less risk of drawing their attention. More time to discover what Doctor Maloryn is up to._

* * *

Author's Notes

First, my muses are back with a vengence after seeing a couple trailers for the Underworld sequel. I'll try to get another chapter out before it comes out, but I make no garuntees.

To amande, Ellethiel, Joker, and TwistofShadows - Thank you for your reviews, and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.


	5. Unknown Connections

Chapter 5 – Unknown Connections

_Her eyes met those of the man chained to the floor in front of her, and she heard him screaming a name, though she couldn't hear the name over the roaring of blood in her ears, and the shrill screams she knew came from her. Her world narrowed to the man's eyes, and the pain that was eating her alive._

_She knew those eyes._

Elisa woke with a start, her heart pounding, and her mouth dry. "No," she whispered, shaking her head violently. The dream was already beginning to fade from her mind, but she knew what it had been. "Not again."

She swung her legs over the edge of the cot that occupied one corner of her spacious office, resting her elbows on her knees, and burying her fingers in the hair at her temples. "Just a nightmare. A nightmare, Lis," she murmured to herself, trying to calm herself. "A nightmare caused by too much stress, and a less-than-pleasant encounter with a lycan."

Elisa clenched her hands into fists, pulling on her hair. "And there is nothing special about the source of the stress becoming involved in the dream. Nothing important."

She drew in another shuddering breath, before letting her hands relax, and standing. Even though she wanted to believe the nightmare was nothing, she knew that she wouldn't get back to sleep that night. _Those dreams never let me sleep, good or bad._

Padding to her desk, she pulled out a slim journal, and turned on the lamp, curling in her chair to write another entry. After she'd written down what she remembered of the dream, she absently paged back to the last entry. _Almost ten years. Not since I left home for university. Started my search for real vampires and werewolves. A search I started because of these dreams._

With a sigh, she placed the journal back into the drawer, her eyes straying to the photograph she'd set up on her desk. A picture that she always kept with her, ever since her mother had died. _I was only six, and I insisted I was a vampire to anyone who would listen. Refused to wear any other costume for Halloween for almost seven years. So why does a lycan feature in my dreams? And why was I always so certain it was a lycan?_

A shiver ran through her, and she got up again, changing into clean clothes before putting on a pot of coffee, and grabbing an orange out of the small refrigerator behind her desk. Elisa hummed softly as she ate, mentally drawing up a list of things she needed to work on. _Check the cell cultures Jacob started yesterday, and see what happens when they are exposed to silver nitrate. Run the analysis on the vampire tissue samples, and see if Natalie left prints from my film in my box._

She flipped the page of her planning book, and grimaced. "Or I can leave the analysis of the vampire and his death until tomorrow, and concentrate on the cell cultures from Lucian's blood."

In red ink, she'd noted that she had to meet with Mr. Corwin, her employer, for lunch. _And discussion of the progress in the research into the lyco-vampiric virus, and where the Corvinus strain fits into the whole scheme. A discussion of the foolishness of taking Lucian back to the apartment, and questioning of my reasons. Though perhaps I can deflect that, if I can find something in the cultured samples today._

With a shake of her head, Elisa poured herself a mug of coffee, adding cream and sugar with a generous hand before heading out of her office towards the lab.

* * *

"Good morning, Elisa!" Jacob chuckled as he stepped into the lab, stopping at her work bench. "Been here all night again?"

Elisa shrugged, leaning back from the microscope for a moment. "A little bit of trouble, is all. Moving again." She rubbed the back of her neck, yawning. "Is it nine o'clock already?"

"Closer to nine-thirty, actually." Jacob nodded to the microscope. "Find anything interesting?"

"As always, Jacob." Elisa waved him to look at the cell culture she'd been studying. "The cell cultures from Lucian are not normal. All the samples I have looked at since I arrived this morning have been like this. I wish I had a better sample to work with, instead of what we were able to collect from the discarded bandages. These are odd, and so far they have survived, but they clearly show damage from the silver nitrate, and I suspect the culture is not going to last."

"Mm-hmm." Jacob was peering through the microscope as he replied. "Have Zach look at these when he gets in." He pulled back. "I can't make heads or tails of this, but I'm a geneticist, not a virologist or biologist."

Elisa chuckled. "I will, Jacob. Do me a favor, though. Get a genetic print of the culture, if the genetic material is sufficiently intact to do so?"

"I can see what I can do. I'd be happier with a larger sample to work with, and something that wasn't exposed to silver nitrate." He frowned, gesturing at the culture again. "Are you sure that those cells are from a lycan?"

"Absolutely." Elisa held up a hand to stall his protest. "Yes, yes, I am aware that the cells are not what we expect from a lycan. I have never seen anything like them."

* * *

"I'll see what I can do, but I'd be happier with a larger sample to work with. Not to mention a sample untainted by silver nitrate." Jacob frowned. _Not that those cells should be alive in the first place. The genetic structure should be in tatters, and they should be going through apoptosis._

He nodded to the culture under the microscope. "Are you certain those samples were from a lycan?"

"Absolutely. And I'm aware they aren't what we expect. I certainly haven't seen anything like them."

Jacob snorted. "It's just hard to believe that they're from a lycan. They shouldn't be alive. Exposure to silver usually initiates cellular death in tissues infected by the lycan strain of the virus."

"Not in all tissues, though. Not equally."

"Maybe not equally, Elisa, but it has always proven to be the case with red blood cells, and those are the only samples we have from this individual." Jacob shook his head. "This isn't normal at all, Elisa. I really doubt the person these cells are from is a lycan."

_Though I have to grant you that it could be from a new strain of the lyco-vampiric virus, I'd much rather Zach propose that idea. He is, after all, our virologist, not me._

Elisa grimaced. "Perhaps he isn't. But I can't know that for certain unless we have a genetic profile. And I doubt there's a way to gather a fresh sample. I'm not likely to find Lucian again."

"I'll try." Jacob picked up the culture, heading for his workbench. "I'll have a report on your desk before I leave on what I find."

_If I find anything,_ he added silently.

* * *

Elisa rubbed her temples as she made her way from the lab to her office, silently cursing the speed of the equipment that they had to work with. _At least I have a theory to lay out for Mr. Corwin. Though I doubt he will appreciate that it would require going to locate Lucian again in order to confirm it._

"Trouble in the lab, Lis?" Alex was waiting at the door to her office, and watched her with a concerned expression on his face.

"No." Elisa shook her head, unlocking her office, and waving her bodyguard in. "Just frustration with the speed of equipment. It cannot keep up with any of us. We still have to wait until this evening before we even have a preliminary genetic profile for the samples. And that will not be sufficient to prove or disprove the current theory on why Lucian was able to metabolize the silver in his system, instead of the silver nitrate being the lethal toxin it should be." She sighed, pouring herself another mug of coffee. "I wish I had more to present to Mr. Corwin at lunch today, but I will have to be content with what I have."

Alex shrugged, sitting at the small table the coffee pot was on. "At least you have a theory. Gabe is still griping about that last dose of the drug being the cause of Lucian's escape."

Elisa shook her head. "Not likely. From what we have, it is more likely that he is the first example of an evolution of the lycan strain of the lyco-vampiric virus."

He winced. "Great. In other words, lycans are getting immune to silver?"

"I do not know." Elisa shook her head, drumming her fingers against her desk. "It is possible, but I suspect that there is something more. I cannot figure it out, but I feel there is something we are missing."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Lis." Alex smiled at her a moment. "But I didn't come to sit and talk. You said you had lunch with Mr. Corwin today, and Gabe is busy with other business, so I got volunteered to drive you over today."

"Other business?" Elisa raised an eyebrow in question as she set her coffee down. "Looking for a new place to live?"

"No. Setting up a post office box, and filing a carefully worded police report to explain the broken window as part of an attempt on your life."

"It was not an attempt on my life!" Elisa let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, Alex, could he not have thought of something else to explain it? Such as an attempted robbery gone wrong?"

Alex gave her a steady look that made it clear he had agreed to the interpretation of events that was being told to police. "Look, Lis, it's our job to protect you. And if that means we get the police involved, than that's what it means. Which is usually what happens when you pull a stunt like dumping us for a night out on your own. If you didn't do that, the police never would get involved, because it stays quiet, and out of the public view."

Elisa took a deep breath. "Fine. Give me a moment to change, would you, Alex? I will not be long."

"Not a problem, Lis. I'll be waiting outside." Alex rose, stepping outside while she changed into the business suit she'd asked Gabe to bring by.

* * *

"Good afternoon, Doctor Maloryn." Mr. Corwin stood to pull out the chair for Elisa as she came into the private dining room. "I trust you are doing well?"

Elisa smiled, letting him seat her before she replied. "As well as can be expected, Mr. Corwin." She looked up at the waiter who almost materialized at her side. "If I might have a cup of green tea?"

"Of course, madame."

Mr. Corwin waited for the man to leave before speaking again. "I hear you had an incident a few nights ago with a lycan. You were not harmed?" He gave her a concerned look, and Elisa shook her head.

"Other than a few bruises to my ego after being lectured like an errant child, I am fine, Mr. Corwin. And I must admit, I did act rather foolishly in bringing Lucian to the apartment."

"Indeed," Mr. Corwin replied dryly. "Though perhaps better than if you had brought him back to the lab."

Elisa winced. That thought had run through her mind in the last couple of days as she tried to think of what she might have done better the night she met Lucian. "If I had brought him back to the lab, we might not be at the impasse we currently are."

"Impasse?" Mr. Corwin raised an eyebrow, curious.

Elisa slid the folder over to him, a tight smile on her face. "When I found Lucian, he was suffering from acute silver poisoning which appeared to have been caused by silver nitrate. He demonstrated not only a capacity to survive it, but to recover at a rate even greater than what one would expect. Even when we take into account that lycans have an enhanced metabolism, and that Lucian had received two doses of the silver-binder, he recovered from the poisoning faster than I might expect."

"Could the abnormal results be from a period of time spent in the catacombs prior to your arrival there?" Mr. Corwin was leafing through the folder, his eyes rapidly scanning the information it contained.

"Zach suggested that possibility yesterday, but observations made this morning make it more likely that there is a new strain of the lyco-vampiric virus evolving. Jacob is preparing a genetic profile from the samples we have, though the degradation due to silver nitrate make them ill-suited to the task."

Mr. Corwin looked up sharply. "You would prefer fresh samples, properly collected, I expect?"

Elisa nodded. "They would prove easier for Jacob to work with, and there is less likelihood of contamination from other sources in a properly retrieved sample. Not to mention, a properly retrieved tissue sample may contain an intact sample of the virus itself, which Zach would appreciate. He never has had the chance to study the mechanism the virus uses to infect a cell, and if it uses different mechanisms to infect different tissue types."

_And if I am able to talk with Lucian again, I can chase away this silly notion that I knew him before I even met him. That he managed to worm his way into my teenage dreams and nightmares. I could not have known him, and he could not be in my dreams if I did not know him._

Closing the folder, Mr. Corwin took a deep breath, his expression neutral. "I cannot send you out to encounter this lycan again without a full team, Elisa. And I have deep reservations about attempting to contact the lycan again in the first place."

"Mr. Corwin, I know it is a dangerous task. But I have expected this entire career to be dangerous, with the high probability that I will be killed while doing my job rather than having a chance to retire." Elisa paused as the door opened, resuming the conversation only after the waiter had poured her tea and left again.

"This is the chance of a lifetime, Mr. Corwin. And no opportunity of this magnitude comes without risk. Jacob and Zach know as much about the research as I do, and a good forensic technician can be hired to do my field work if I am unable to do so. But neither Jacob or Zach, or even some technician down the road will have the chance I might have. To speak with a living lycan, and learn about their culture, as well as their physiology. To truly understand them, in a way no one ever has outside of their own species."

Elisa gave Mr. Corwin an almost pleading look. "This is the chance I have been hoping would come along, that will push my research years ahead." She paused. "He might even be able to give us an answer to why you were attacked by lycans, and why so many people in the Corvinus line have vanished over the years."

* * *

Author's Notes: Thank you to my reviewers for this chapter - DarkKyoko, Sea Fire, Shadow Girl63, and ShadowFiction. I'm glad you enjoyedit, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

Chapter six is titled Playing By the Rules, and I'll have it uploaded in about a month or so, give or take a week.

"Well? Now what?"

Lucian shrugged. "We let them find me."

_-Chapter Six, Playing By the Rules_


	6. Playing By the Rules

Chapter 6 – Playing By the Rules

"You're lucky I hadn't yet told the police force that I was moving, and had to quit my job as their file clerk, Lucian." Kit set a folder on the table as Lucian and Rex came in. "They are looking for you. They know your name, they know you're alive. Because someone filed a police report accusing you of making an attempt on an Elisa Maloryn's life."

Lucian raised an eyebrow, reaching out one hand to flip through the copy of the report Kit had obtained. Montrose. Not surprising. A smirk came to his face when he saw the full name on the page. _Now I have three names. A way to track the elusive Doctor Maloryn down, if I must. Elisa. And her bodyguards. Gabriel Montrose, Alex Brown, and the Doctor St. Claire._

"Well? Now what?" Kit was giving him an annoyed look, much the same as he remembered his mother giving him when he was causing her no end of frustration.

Lucian shrugged. "We let them find me." He closed the folder, heading for the rooms he'd claimed for himself. _And then you and I are going to have a long discussion about what you know about lycans and vampires, Doctor Maloryn._

"Let them find you?" Lucian could sense Rex staring at him. "I don't understand, Lucian. Why do you want them to find you?"

Lucian shook his head, a smirk crossing his face. "They will find me, one way or another. But if I allow them to find me when I wish to be found, I meet them on ground of my choosing." _Where I will have the advantage, and they will have to play by my rules._

* * *

Mr. Corwin regarded Elisa for a long moment after she'd finished speaking. "Do you really think this lycan, Lucian, holds the answer to that question, Doctor Maloryn?" His voice was soft, and he gripped the folder tightly in an attempt to keep him hands from trembling. _Almost thirty years I've asked that question, dear child, and never found an answer. And you bring me the key to it by getting yourself into a mess that could get you killed._

Elisa leaned forward, a smile on her face. "I am sure of it. If not by his words, than by his blood, by the strain of the virus in his tissues that allows him to survive silver poisoning. Especially as it is the virus that connects the lycans and the vampire alike to the Corvinus blood lines."

"Elucidate on that, Doctor Maloryn. Why would the strain of virus in his system give me the answer to why the attack on me?"

"Lucian is centuries old. Lab tests show only a slow mutation of the virus, and a lack of mutation within host tissues, particularly with the lycan and vampiric strains. In fact, only when exposed to various sub-strains of the Corvinus strain do the lycan or vampiric strains show any mutation at all. And then, not within the cells, but only within the culture medium."

"Doctor Maloryn, please." Mr. Corwin held her gaze. "In a language I can understand."

Elisa chuckled softly. "My apologies, Mr. Corwin." She paused to take another sip of her tea. "Lucian had to have introduced one of the Corvinus strains of the virus into his system in order to have mutated the lycan strain, which was already present. If our theory is correct. And that would explain why you were attacked. For the virus that you carry dormant in your tissues."

"Interesting." Mr. Corwin leaned back in his chair, his hands steepled in front of him. "And how would you contact this Lucian again? And how would you obtain what you require from him?"

"It's not so much a matter of contacting him, as it is a matter of getting his attention, and drawing him to us." Elisa leaned forward, drawing the rough map she had drawn of the catacombs she'd been searching when she met Lucian. "I take a team down here, and we complete the search I began. It may even be feasible to set up a base of operations there, though I shall leave a full assessment of that possibility to Gabe and the others."

"And this will draw him out?" Mr. Corwin raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

Elisa tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "It may or may not succeed in doing that on its own, but there is the matter of the police report Gabe filed. The police are aware of Lucian's existence now, and will be searching for him. He will likely come to the conclusion it was me, or one of my bodyguards who did this, and he will come looking for me. Probably first at the apartment, but if he does not find me there, I would hope he starts his search where we first encountered each other. I would, in his position."

* * *

Lucian shook his head at the number of patrols around the old den. _I did not think the Death Dealers would leave it be. And if Doctor Maloryn comes back here, and she is not working for the vampires, they will kill her before I can find out what she knows. Or they will interrogate her for what she knows of my people. And I will not allow her to give what secrets she may have learned to them._

He turned, slipping through the catacombs back towards where he had told Rex to wait for him. A silent shake of his head was all that was needed to tell him that it was as they suspected.

"What now?" Rex asked, his voice low as they made their way towards the city center. "If this Elisa Maloryn is working for the vampires..."

"No." Lucian cut Rex off with a sharp wave of his hand. "It doesn't matter if she is working for them or not. We cannot afford to let her return to where she found me." He paused at an intersection, listening for patrols before stepping into the larger passage. "You return to the safe house. I have other business to attend to."

"How long do Kit and I wait before we should leave, and count you for dead?"

"You don't." Lucian turned to look at the younger lycan, who was frowning with confusion.

"Don't which? Wait, or count you for dead?"

"Either. I won't take long. I will be back before sun set tomorrow." Lucian turned away again, silently padding towards the ladder that led up to the streets. It would be a long walk, but it was safer on the streets than below them with the Death Dealers patrolling in force. More room to fight or run.

* * *

"I don't know how you talked Mr. Corwin into this mission, Elisa. It's dangerous, and downright insane." Gabe sat across from Elisa in the armored van as it made its way though the city in the early morning hours. "Even with a full team. Lucian has proven himself to be a very dangerous lycan."

"And I need to speak with him, and hopefully obtain at least a blood sample. Lucian could provide the answers to the puzzle that is the lyco-vampiric virus and the beings - and cultures - it has engendered." Elisa met his concern and annoyance with a calm expression that belied the excitement she felt. _If I have the chance to speak with him, I can put to rest the notion I knew him before I met him. And I can get the answers to the question Mr. Corwin wants answered, and to the question of why all the bodies. Why this feud between the vampires and the lycans?_

"He's still dangerous, and if it comes to a choice between the mission and you life, I will kill him." Gabe frowned at her, and Elisa sighed.

"We are not even certain that silver nitrate can stop him, Gabe. It might slow him down, but from what Jacob and Zach gleaned from tests on the samples we have, I doubt it will do anything more than that."

"Which would be why there are the dart guns and the heavy-duty tranquilizers among the weapons for the mission, Lis," Max said quietly. "Even if they can't kill him, they will take him out. And you can get your samples from him while he's unconscious."

"And that would be a saner plan, with less risk to the personnel involved." Gabe sighed, leaning back against the wall of the van, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why didn't you propose that, Lis?"

"You should know that by now, Gabe. The most important information he can give me is not in samples and numbers and blood." Elisa leaned forward, her eyes boring into his as she let some of her excitement show. "He represents a chance to understand why the evidence points to a some long-standing was between lycans and vampires. A chance to know why I have the field of study that I do, instead of it being merely a hobby."

"And your safety is more important than any of that information."

"For you. It is your job to be concerned about my safety, and that of everyone else. But my work is obtaining information. And for me, to find this out it worth almost any price."

Gabe scowled, his expression dark. "And what if the price for this information is one you're unwilling to pay, Lis?"

"I will cross that bridge if I come to it, Gabe." Elisa smiled briefly, trying to ease his concern, her expression fading to a neutral one as the van came to a stop.

* * *

Lucian watched the van pull into the garage across the street, remaining pressed close to the wall beside the window of the empty flat. Others had arrived earlier, setting up a perimeter that barely missed him as he made his way into the building earlier. A grim smile crossed his face, his gaze moving to the boarded up window of Elisa's flat. _Now what, Doctor Maloryn? Why come back to a flat that has been compromised?_

He ducked back into the shadows at movement below, glancing out to see who had emerged from the other building. Montrose stood in the doorway, barely visible in the shadows cast by the early morning sunlight. _Searching for anything out of place, not trusting the perimeter to hold. Or expecting someone else to arrive._

The feeling that Elisa represented a threat to him resurfaced, making the point between his shoulders itch as if targeted. He snarled silently, moving away from the window, and towards the door.


End file.
